Product description

"Coming Home to Story" tells of the magic of stories and storytelling, and of their power to liberate the human spirit. Master Storyteller, Geoff Mead, takes the reader inside the experience of telling and listening to stories. He shows how stories and storytelling engage our imaginations, heal communities and bring adventure and passion into our lives. The narrative is interspersed with consummate retellings of traditional tales from all over the world. The first title from Vala Publishing Co-operative, the paper for the first printing has been supplied free of charge by Arctic Paper, as a gesture of support for Vala.

Author information

Geoff Mead is a professional storyteller who tells traditional stories, runs story-based workshops and teaches storytelling at venues in the UK and as far afield as Spain, Canada and Japan.

Review quote

"The art and craft of storytelling from the inside out. The reader is taken on a fascinating and visceral journey into the heart of storytelling, living alongside the author as he falls in love with his new calling, wrestling inner and outer demons along the way. If you are even remotely interested in the power of story to transform your life, read this book. Richard Olivier, founding voice within Mythodrama and Artistic Director of Olivier Mythodrama Geoff shows how stories can take us beyond "happily ever after", into a world of adventure and passion, imagination and heart, in which the listener and teller can participate in the whole of existence. Judith Hemming, Founder, MovingConstellations In "Coming Home to Story" Geoff Mead does a lovely job of enchanting the world, of breathing a touch of magic into our daily existence. Omair Ahmad, Author of "The Storyteller's Tale" Written with an insight, rigour and vulnerability that moved me on many levels, I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who senses the possibility of a deeper connection with the story world of imagination and meaning. Sue Hollingsworth, Co-Director, The International School of Storytelling"

Table of contents

Prologue; Section 1: Being and Becoming a Storyteller; Chapter 1: Falling in Love with Story; Story 1: The Banyan Deer; Chapter 2: Joining the Company of Storytellers; Chapter 3: Master and Servant; Chapter 4: A Moment of Grace; Story 2: Jumping Mouse; Section 2: Healing Fictions; Chapter 5: Getting Into Bed with the Bear; Chapter 6: Stories all the Way Down; Chapter 7: Storied Lives; Chapter 8: Living Stories; Story 3: The Giant who Had No Heart in His Body; Chapter 9: Telling the Untold Story; Chapter 10: Hermes in the Gorge; Section 3: Men and Storytelling; Chapter 11: We Band of Brothers; Story 4: The Furthest Shore; Chapter 12: Fathers and Sons; Chapter 13: Sons and Fathers. Section 4: Widening Circles; Chapter 14: Some Enchanted Evening; Story 5: The Magic Garden of the Poor; Chapter 15: Storytelling in Organisations; Chapter 16: Water on the Rock; Epilogue.